, 1887-06-28
GIG eems IN ABUNDANCE.


Other Germs by the Pound.
1t would surprise some people who
treasure little chips of sparkling stones il
rings or pins to learn how common some
Of those Same stones may be-and this
without reference to the bogus jewels OF
the shops. The writer has a bit Of aqua
marine cut from a Single crystal that
weighed four and one-half ounces, and
containing material enough for dozens of
gems, but oven this crystal was Of small
consequence os compared with one now
in possession Of the emperor Of Brazil,
for that weighs eighteen pounds, and is
of the size and nearly tie shape of a calf's
head. New England, especially the
states of E1nine and New Ham oshire,
nbounds in aquamarines or beryls, and
tho biggest find was Mt Grafton, N. f.,
whcro q crystal weighing 2,C00 pounds
was taken out. This, however. was
nearly Opaque. and was consequently use
less for jewelry purposes. Graham e Co.
are cutting up O garnet recently found in
North Carolina that weighed four pounds
seven and q half ounces md another
fra of lapidcries has a garnet Of nearly
the same weight found in q gneIssoid ledge
in the ncighborhood of West Seventeen
or EiShtieth street, New York, although
this latter piece is too cloudy and too
heavily 1awed to cut.
a Scotchman will show you the cairn-
germ or smo,;y quartz in tho hilt of his
GirL or pin of his plaid and brag of it if
it turns the scales at IN ounce. What
would he think of the 200 pound crystal
and of tho punches Of crystals that aggre-
gate tons in weight, found near the lief
engletscher and brought down to the
Derne museum? Malaohite as formerly
used for jewelry toa considerable extent,
for the large ouarries of it were, until
lately, unknown. 1t is recorded of a
young fop who visited one of the I.otlls-
childs that lie was SO proud of his mnla-
chito sleeve buttons that he insisted upon
exhibiting them to his host. Rothschild
looked at them and said: ayes, it is a
pretty stone. 1 have always Liked it. 1
have q mantelpiece made of it in the
next ROOM" As to the once precious
jasper. ~porphyry, and chalcedony one has
only to visit tho Paris Grand Opera to
find them used as architectural material.
The Lloodstonc, or heliotrope, is a green
jasper, heclred with red, that Is often
used in rings, yet it is discovered in large
blocks In somo parts Of tho world. Tie
lOlAi SOIlcStlOh III " COlllulLS u Ielu
of Christ made Of this stone, where the
red spots are brought into the artistic
scheme by representing blood from the
crown of thorns.
Onyx Is abundant in the west and else
where, and tho Mantuan vase at Eruns-
wick, made of this material. is seven
inches high by two and one-half inches
broad. Nero had two cups of rock
crystal or quartz, ole Of which cost him
$1,000, and that, with a characteristic
disregard Of expense, lie dashed to pieces
when informed that the people were in
revolt against him. Topazes are beauti-
full stones and not very expensive. They
ought not to be when Jumps OF them
eighty pounds in weight can he lifted out
of the earth, as was lone in Droddho,
Sweden. In spite Of the comparative
abundance Of certain gems, however, the
Classmakcr 1ourishes, and sometimes he
M 60 near to reality that the
elect are deceived, while real stones often
simulate eac.l other and can only be de-
termined by tests in cutting. The wife
of q dealer in gems has worn a beautiful
'stecl" topaz for twenty years in the
belief that it Is a diamond, and her hus-
band has never deemed it necessary to
undeccivc her.
Fraudulent gems, or 'doublets, are
sometimes faced with q thin slice of the
stone they initiate that is made to adj
hero by means of transparent cement, for
this facing of stone will wear much lon
ger han GlasS-the latter becoming
scratched and dimmed even by exposure
to the dust Of our streets. Glass or
paste" gems, however, are usually q
Ettlo of color. The glass amethyst, for